I Just Want Her Back
by DiaDuitCluaiste
Summary: A one-shot of how Rory reacts to Amy getting exploded, as it were. Rory/Doctor bromance, to sum it up really.


**Note to readers: This one-shot is set after Amy is "exploded" at the end of episode six, "The Almost People". I would rather like to know what happens after that little scene and this is my take on what I think did/should/might happen. I hope you enjoy it. If you're going to review please sign in so that I can sent you a little thank you! See, I'm such a nice person! Not. Whatever. Anyways, here you are. Please read and enjoy. Cheerio!**

I JUST WANT HER BACK

Rory turned to the Doctor, anger boiling in his veins. Without so much as giving his actions a second thought, he raced up the steps, grabbing the Doctor by his lapels and pressing him roughly against the TARDIS console.

"What have you done to her? Where has she gone?" he growled threateningly into the Time Lord's face.

"I cut off the signal; I didn't hurt her, I swear." The Doctor cried in alarm. But Rory wouldn't hear of it. He shook him violently by his jacket.

"Where is she?" he asked, his face inches away from the Doctor's. He could smell the fear in the Doctor's breath and the Time Lord was trembling slightly. After waiting a few seconds for a reply, and getting none, Rory continued, "Answer me!"

"I don't know! I don't know where she is." The Doctor replied quickly.

"Then find her! That's what you're here for." Rory ordered.

"I would if I could. But I can't." the Doctor replied. In denial of defeat, Rory let him go and stepped back, still angry but now reserved.

But that didn't last for long. Like always, the Doctor had something else to say. He had to go and open his mouth when all that was really needed was a few moments of utter silence. To be honest, he had earned what was coming for him.

"Besides," he continued, not realising the peril he was putting himself in, "Amy isn't the most important thing here-" But he was completely cut off by Rory's punch. He had one hell of a right hook. The Doctor fell to the ground, hand to his face. Really, the fighting should have stopped there. But by now Rory was blinded by his anger, his judgement hindered by the sudden loss of his wife and the distress that it caused him. So instead of stopping, Rory lashed out again, kicking the Time Lord in the stomach, and then punching him in the face as he tried to push himself off the ground.

Before long, Rory collapsed down onto his knees beside his friend. The Doctor's arms were clasped protectively over his head.

"I'm so sorry. Doctor, I'm so sorry…" Rory wept, prying the Time Lord's arms from his face and helping him into a sitting position. Blood trickled from his mouth and his eyes were wide with pity and guilt.

"It's alright, Rory. I understand." He said, wiping the blood from his face with a shaking hand and using the other to clutch his probably bruising side.

"I just want her back." Rory sobbed, his emotions spilling out in a confused mess, "She's having my baby. I should be there."

"I know…" the Doctor whispered, watching the centurion cry shamelessly. And then realisation hit Rory like a solar tsunami.

"My baby…" he repeated, "Doctor, I'm going to be a father!" The Doctor couldn't help but laugh a little at the young man's face.

"Yes you are, Mr Pond." He said. Rory's mouth framed the words over and over again, never quite getting over the enormity of the prospect. The Doctor, obvious sensing that this was an excellent area to distract his currently shaken friend with, began speaking again, "What do you want?"

"What?" Rory asked stupidly, sitting himself down properly and leaning against the bars as he gathered his wits together again.

"What do you want? A boy or a girl?" the Doctor repeated, watching his friend's face sink back into some kind of serenity; at least they weren't fighting anymore.

"I… I don't know." Rory stuttered, "I don't think I ever thought about that, but… a girl. No, a boy. No… oh, I don't know." The Doctor laughed gently and Rory, surprisingly, smiled unsurely back.

"One or the other is good enough." The Doctor finished for him. Rory nodded, letting the Time Lord speak for a while. Praying he wouldn't end up digging his own grave, the Doctor continued timidly, in the hope of comforting Rory, "My first was a girl." Rory simply blinked, doing a comical double-take as he realised what the Doctor had just told him.

"Y-your first?" he asked unthinkingly, "You have children?"

"Had children. All of my people died in the Great Time War, them included." He replied sadly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Rory said, genuinely feeling for him. The Doctor shook his head.

"That was a long time ago." He said simply.

Rory paused, his interest in the Doctor's history growing, and waited until the moment had passed. The silence lasted for a few moments more than was comfortable as the Doctor was lost in thoughts of his own. It was rare that such a wise man opened up to feelings that really meant a lot to him, so Rory felt that it was only fair that he let the Time Lord grow accustomed to the honesty he had thrown himself head first into, before bombarding him with questions.

"What was it like?" he asked shyly, feeling that he had waited long enough, "You know, becoming a… father." The Doctor smiled, delving into some memories he hadn't accessed in a long while.

"Incredible." He said quietly, "They handed her to me only a few minutes after she was born. She was so small, so… delicate. It was like the tiniest puff of wind would cause her to shatter. And then she took my finger," At this, he took his left index finger in his whole right hand, "And held it with strength I didn't think possible from so small a person. I was only allowed to hold her for a few minutes before the nurse took her away to be checked over. But in those minutes I knew my life had changed completely. Once you become a parent, your whole view of the world changes. You notice things that you didn't before: how easily broken things are, for instance. You notice every tiny detail in everything that they do, and no matter what they do, it's always magic… But when she held my finger like that…It was the best moment of my life to date, and it would take a mammoth event to rival that." Rory nodded, taking in the information.

"I wish I could be there for Amy." He said sadly, hanging his head as he realised that his experience would be far from the perfection of the Doctor's.

"I swear to you, I will do everything it takes to get Amy and the baby back to you, even if it costs me an entire reality." The Time Lord told him fiercely. Suddenly, he stood up and pulled Rory up with him. Dancing around the controls with a mad form of determination, he said, "Come along, Pond. We have some debts to collect."


End file.
